Equity Commonwealth (NYSE:EQC) Q1 2023 Earnings Conference Call May 4, 2023 10:00 AM ET

Company Participants

David Helfand - President, CEO & Trustee

David Weinberg - EVP & COO

Conference Call Participants

Nicholas Joseph - Citigroup

Craig Mailman - Citigroup

Operator

Good morning, and thanks for joining this call to discuss Equity Commonwealth's First Results for the Quarter ending March 31, 2023, and an update on the company. [Operator Instructions]. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.

Please be advised that certain matters discussed during this conference call may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws. Please refer to the section titled Forward-Looking Statements in the press release issued yesterday as well as the section titled Risk Factors in the company's annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q for subsequent quarters for a discussion of factors that could cause the company's actual results to materially differ from any forward-looking statements. The company assumes no obligation to update or supplement any forward-looking statements made today. The company posts important information on its website at www.eqcre.com, including information that may be material.

The portion of today's remarks on the company's quarterly earnings also include certain non-GAAP financial measures. Please refer to yesterday's press release and supplement containing the company's results for a reconciliation of these non-GAAP measures to the company's GAAP financial results.

On the call today are David Helfand, President and CEO; David Weinberg, COO; and Bill Griffiths, CFO. With that, I'll turn the call over to David Helfand. Please go ahead, sir.

David Helfand

Thank you. Good morning, everyone. Appreciate you joining us. I'll review the company's results for the quarter as well as provide an update on capital markets and our investment activities.

For the quarter, funds from operations were $0.22 per share compared to $0.03 per share in the first quarter 2022. Normalized FFO was $0.23 per share compared to $0.03 per share a year ago. The growth in FFO and normalized FFO was largely the result of a $0.24 per share increase in interest and other income, partially offset by a $0.02 per share decrease in same-property NOI and a $0.02 per share decrease in NOI from properties sold.

Same-property NOI decreased 20.5%, and same-property cash NOI was 17% lower compared to last year, both primarily due to the collection of a $1.9 million previously reserved receivable in the first quarter 2022. Excluding the collection of this receivable, same-property NOI decreased 2.7% and same-property cash NOI increased 2.3% compared to the first quarter 2022.